Sausage Crust Veggie Quiche

Alex and I made this for dinner one night; it was delicious. Quiches are a great way to use leftover veggies in your fridge. Good veggies to use include: spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, peppers, kale*, swiss chard*, other dark leafy greens (not lettuce), zucchini, yellow squash, asparagus, eggplant, broccoli, etc. You could put other meats in here as well like bacon, diced ham, chicken, or turkey. You don't have to do the sausage crust if you don't want to. It's a very flexible recipe.

*Please don't use these unless you actually like them.

Sausage Crust Veggie Quiche

Ingredients

8 oz. baby bella or white mushrooms, washed and diced

~5 oz. sundried Tomatoes, jarred

~11 oz. fresh or frozen spinach (thawed and drained)

8 oz. shredded cheese (pretty much any kind: cheddar, american, muenster, swiss, colby jack, pepper jack)

1 roll (16 oz.) breakfast sausage, any kind/flavor

6 eggs

1 c. heavy whipping cream

Herbs! Parsley, sage, chives if you want (~ Tbsp. each)

Salt and peppah to taste :) (~1 tsp each?)

1 Tbsp. minced garlic OR 1 tsp. powdered garlic

1 tsp. onion powder if not adding fresh onions

bit of butter for the veggies

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a large casserole dish. Press raw sausage into dish so that it's flat on the bottom. If there's enough to press it against the sides of your dish, feel free to. Bake until brown. If there's still a bit of pink, that's fine because it's going to be baked again! 

2. While the sausage is cooking, throw together your veggies and butter into a saute pan (except delicate stuff like fresh leafy greens) and cook until soft. Add in salt, pepper, herbs, onion powder, and garlic. Add in delicate leafy greens if you're using them and cook a bit until wilted. 

3. In a bowl, whisk together eggs and cream. Add most of the cheese to the egg/cream bowl and mix. 

4. Remove sausage crust from oven if you haven't already and spread veggies into the crust. Pour over egg/cream/cheese mixture and mix carefully so you don't tear up the sausage. 

5. Sprinkle over last bit of cheese. Bake until mostly firm. Allow to cool slightly. Serve with berries if you want. Enjoy! 

P.S. You could also do this in muffin cups or ramekins. Cook the sausage on the stove top, crumbling it up, and add it to the veggie mixture. Line a muffin tin with paper muffin cups OR use silicone cups/greased ramekins on a baking sheet. Add veggie/meat mixture evenly to all cups and then pour over egg/cream/cheese mixture and stir carefully. Bake until just slightly jiggly, so likely not as long as the big casserole dish.